Delegate
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: "Okay, lesson learned!" Tao declared, closing the door behind Takeo and M-21. "Check the weather report before leaving for work."
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: "Okay, lesson learned!" Tao declared, closing the door behind Takeo and M-21. "Check the weather report before leaving for work."

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**Delegate  
**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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"Okay, lesson learned!" Tao declared, closing the door behind Takeo and M-21. "Check the weather report before leaving for work." Normally, it didn't matter if it was going to be a little colder than usual, or if it was going to rain. _Normally_. _That_ had been like someone had decided to pick up half the sea and throw it down on their heads. It was still going, rain beating against the windows but at least they were home now. "Or just bring an umbrella every day," he mused, shaking his head vigorously.

"Ah – hey!"

"Tao, we're trying to get _dry_, not get wetter."

"Fine, fine," he said, stopping. He glanced at the pools under their feet and winced. "Sooo, do we draw straws for who gets the towels?"

Both Takeo and M-21 looked down.

"Shit," M-21 muttered under his breath, and looked out the entranceway. "The lights are off; no-one's home."

"Which means straws, or-" An idea popped into his mind, and he grinned at Takeo.

Who raised his eyebrows, taking a small step back. "What are you thinking?" he asked warily.

"You're the fastest out of the three of us-"

"I also have the most-! Frankenstein'll kill-"

"-so you should get the towels." Though that _was_ a point about his hair, hm. Tao would have crossed his arms, but that meant squishing his wet clothes and no thanks.

"Vote?" he put out, looking at the other two.

"Takeo," M-21 said, smirking, and Takeo groaned, shaking his head.

"Well, that's two votes so you're going in." Tao patted Takeo's shoulder.

"Fine." Takeo sighed and stripped out of his jacket, handing it to him. Tao held it, weighing it in his hands. Hm, maybe he should talk with the Boss to see if they could do something about waterproofing their uniforms. Takeo slipped on his slippers and after squeezing out some more of the excess in his hair, dashed into the house.

"It shouldn't take long to clean up the mess," Tao said out loud, ruffling his hair. Unless Takeo slipped in one of his own puddles. But even then, at least the spot would be concentrated. He turned his ear towards the door, just in case he heard a thud.

M-21 raised an eyebrow at him. "Who says _we're_ going to do it?"

…Ah. Right, it was obvious who Takeo would vote for when it came up. "Fine – you make the hot chocolate then," he said, nodding. They were going to need something to warm them up after that.

"All right."

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Written for the prompt, 'Any, Any, drying off and warming up after getting caught in a downpour'


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary**: M-21 frowned when he looked over and saw that while Takeo was rubbing his hands together underneath the towel, his hair wasn't between them. "Are you cold?"

Thanks to a review from Silvermist, bonus extra featuring Tai-eun! 8D (If you don't know who/what Tai-eun is, read A New Friend first.)

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**Delegate  
**

By Dark Ice Dragon

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Tao was curled up on the sofa while also taking up more space than M-21 and Takeo combined. It had something to do with his arms and how they were in constant motion, but at least he wasn't gesturing and holding his cup of hot chocolate at the same time anymore. It hadn't taken Tao long to mop up all the water, but the smell of chocolate would be harder to miss.

Takeo still hadn't finished using his towel, which wasn't surprising considering how much he had to dry, but M-21 frowned when he looked over and saw that while Takeo was rubbing his hands together underneath the towel, his hair wasn't between them. "Are you cold?" Except if he was, he wouldn't be doing that with a wet towel.

"Ah?" Takeo blinked at him, and then shook his head. "Oh, no, it's for Tai-eun." He stopped talking, opening his hands, and Tai-eun's head popped out, trilling at M-21. "I don't want it to have any water trapped between anything, just in case."

Oh, that was a point – they could feed Tai-eun all the metal it wanted, but what would they do if it rusted?

"Do you think we should change its diet a bit?" Tao asked, peering at it. Tai-eun slipped out of the towel and started to wind its way up Takeo's arm.

"How would that help?" M-21 asked.

"There's metals that don't rust as quickly, though stainless steel is already pretty good, but adding a couple other things shouldn't hurt," Tao mused, rubbing his chin.

"We can try," Takeo said, and Tai-eun had reached his neck. It went around the back of it, sliding underneath his hair and reappeared on the other side. It trailed along Takeo's collar, reaching its tail again and then looped its tail around its own neck a few times before throwing itself off Takeo's shoulder, making itself look like a necklace. Takeo stroked its head, and it trilled in return.

"Heh, all right then!" Tao said, pulling out his pocket computer. "I'll do a bit of research and then we can start trying it out."

"We'll buy the materials," M-21 added dryly. Frankenstein was fine with Tai-eun eating his cutlery, but if they started picking up other things around the house for Tai-eun to eat, he wouldn't be happy.

Tao snickered. "No question."


End file.
